INTERNATIONAL MAY/JUNE 2009 PRESUMPTIVE PROTECTIONS — PAGE 20 contents MAY/JUNE 2009 JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIRE FIGHTERS / VOL 92. NO. 3 FEATURES ON THE COVER: New SAFER Rules Grants will save jobs, protect staffing ................................ 23 Rights Upheld for Florida Union Leader Full relief granted for Jude Diaz .......................................... 13 Working to Live Fire fighters and heart disease ............................................ 14 P. 10 IAFF members on the frontlines FIREPA C and Political Action A winning combination for locals ........................................ 16 General President’s Message Presumptive Protections Elections Matter ................................................................ 3 New and better coverage .................................................. 20 General Secretary-Treasurer’s Message Deflationary Trends ............................................................ 5 Letters to the Editor .................................................... 6 Local Scene .................................................................. 8 Always On the Frontline .......................................... 23 Across the IAFF .......................................................... 25 Fully Involved .............................................................. 31 On the Road Belleair fire fighters campaign ................................................................ 34 P. 12 for candidates Retirees .......................................................................... 35 In Memoriam/Last Alarm .......................................... 38 On The Cover SAFER Victory —story page 23 P. 30 Burnaby Local 323 Secretary Miles Ritchie, IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger, Fire Engineering magazine Editor in Chief Bobby Halton and Local 323 member Jeff Clark at the FDIC in Indianapolis, IN. 2 May/June 2009 From the General President Elections Matter n Providence, Rhode Island, our members in Local Congress has approved an IAFF proposal that 799 have been engulfed in a bitter fight with the would allow the use of federal funding through the Imayor of that city, David Cicilline — a mayor they Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response supported because of his promise to fix their (SAFER) grant program to rehire laid-off fire contract problems once he was elected in 2002. fighters and prevent reductions in force at U.S. fire The mayor quickly turned on them. Cicilline has departments. become one of the most anti-union mayors in the This bill is part of the president’s Supplemental country, fostering ill-will by introducing state Appropriation and it contains language that allows legislation and city ordinances against Providence the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to waive fire fighters and forcing Local 799 to arbitrate its last the current rules for SAFER grants that have seven collective agreements. To our local’s credit, it prevented their use to save the jobs of IAFF members. has beaten Cicilline in virtually every arbitration and Once President Obama signs the bill — and he legal battle along the way . has assured me he will sign it — this will be a Clearly, helping this mayor win his initial significant victory, and it gives me hope that we will Harold A. election didn’t help our members. But the story be able to provide some relief to the economic Schaitberger gets much better. storm that has battered affiliates and which still The U.S. Conference of Mayors decided, at Cicilline’s looms threateningly on the horizon as next year’s urging, to hold its 2009 annual meeting in Providence. budgets move through the process. And it invited Vice President Joe Biden and as many I met with DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, another members of the Obama administration as it could. good friend of this union, the week of May 18 to “Yes, elections Ultimately, Vice President Biden, Attorney General discuss how the new flexibility will be used to protect Eric Holder, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, Labor the jobs of fire fighters. Secretary Napolitano agreed matter. And Secretary Hilda Solis , senior Obama adviser Valerie to postpone the 2009 application process for SAFER now, with this Jarrett, six other cabinet members and more than 25 grants until the new waiver authority is in place. administration staffers were set to attend the Mayors’ This move will assure that the full $210 million that president, meeting in Providence, hosted by Cicilline. Congress appropriated for SAFER for 2009 can be When we alerted the administration to the dispute used to address the current wave of staffing cuts. unions matter and that our members would be walking picket lines So , where we have experienced layoffs or reductions throughout the event , the administration worked in force through attrition , we need to be ready to once again, diligently with us in an attempt to negotiate a resolution. push your departments to apply for the unrestricted even in the And when Cicilline refused any and all overtures SAFER funds. by the administration to reach an amicable solution, We know that in many instances in the past, highest office the White House immediately informed us, Mayor departments didn’t apply for the SAFER funds Cicilline and the U .S. Conference of Mayors that no because they judged the terms of the grants to be too in the land.” member of the Obama leadership team would cross narrow. So, this time around, you’ll need to make your the picket line to participate. I also had a personal employer and command understand that the rules conversation with Vice President Biden to discuss the have totally changed. And in the current economic overall issue. Without hesitation, Vice President atmosphere, it’s incumbent upon all of us to do Biden reiterated the administration’s position and everything we can to ensure that no money is left on proudly told me that he has never — and would the table when your department budgets are developed. never — cross a picket line. Command has to know the SAFER money is there That’s a powerful message coming directly from the to get your staffing levels up to where they should be. president and vice president of the United States. There’s no excuse for not applying , and we have to They’ve said clearly, we support the Providence fire ensure that they pursue the program to keep our fighters. We support the IAFF, workers and labor. members riding safe. Yes, elections matter. And now, with this president, This change in SAFER was made because of our unions matter once again, even in the highest office strong, vocal and very visible gold-and-black in the land . presence in the last election. Yes, elections matter. President Obama hasn’t stopped there in standing And to top it off, the president’s budget, which he strong with us, as we stood strong for him in the last sent to Congress last month , includes a doubling of election. To put it mildly, the past several months funding for SAFER for fiscal year 2010, taking it have been difficult for the economy in the United from $210 million in 2009 to $420 million beginning States, and that has had a negative impact on a next October 1. number of affiliates. While the last administration continuously zeroed While Canada has been largely spared from the out the budget for this program , in President Barack recession thus far, in towns and cities throughout the Obama’s first budget proposal of his new United States, the financial crisis has forced layoffs, administration , he’s doubling SAFER funding — and threatens to cause more layoffs and reductions in allowing us to help re-write the rules — and is force in the coming weeks and months. changing the authorization language that will help These cuts, in turn, are resulting in crew size your departments gain easier access to that funding. reductions, brownouts, and company and station closures. It’s a vicious, dangerous cycle on which we Yes , elections do make a difference . have focused our attention in Washington, DC, since the new administration took office and the new Congress was seated. And there is good news to report on this front, as well. 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